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In No Rush to Leave Saban’s Shadow

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A few times each year, Kirby Smart emerges from Nick Saban’s shadow to address the news media. Smart likes the shadow. He became who he is there, he is comfortable there, and he is in no hurry to leave. At 37, he believes he is in the best shadow in all of college football.

Smart, the Alabama defensive coordinator, is defined by the success of his defense, not by his personality. Saban, the Crimson Tide’s coach, forbids his assistants to talk to the media during the season. Nevertheless, Alabama fans adore Smart. They were scared when he interviewed last month for the head coaching job at Auburn, the Tide’s archrival.

But it seems as if Smart cannot stay in Saban’s shadow forever. He is a valuable commodity, and some fans consider him almost as vital to Alabama’s success as Saban.

“Most of us look at him as Nick Saban Jr.,” said Todd Jones, the editor of the Alabama fan Web site RollBamaRoll.com. “This is Smart’s defense, and he really is, I believe, that much of a game changer as far as coordinators go.”

Smart spoke on Friday in anticipation of Monday’s Bowl Championship Series title game against Notre Dame. After eight seasons with Saban, the last five as defensive coordinator, he said he would be a better head coach someday for staying at Alabama and rejecting the advances of other programs. He watches how Saban does his job and sees the structure that surrounds it.

Under Smart, beginning in 2008, Alabama has not finished lower than fifth in the nation in total defense. The Tide’s defense has ranked first the last two seasons, and the unit has defined Alabama’s two championships under Saban.

Saban has input, but Smart says the defense is his. He calls the plays, which is why the other programs are calling him.

“My career goal is to be a head coach,” Smart said. “Where that is, I have no idea. It’s not like I wake up every day trying to leave Alabama. I said this last year at my press conference: I have the best non-head coaching job in the country because I’ve got great administration, we’ve got great facilities.

“I want to be where I can win. And I know you can win at Alabama.”

The attention that Smart is attracting is similar to the interest in Norm Chow when he was the offensive coordinator at Southern California. Chow was in no hurry to leave the Trojans, and did not long to become a head coach. He was content coaching Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. His offense, which averaged 35 points a game, defined the program’s two national championships while he was there.

When he went out for dinner in Los Angeles, fans began to recognize him. Big-time programs called. Interest in him was never so high before or since, Chow said in a phone interview last month, but he knew the fame was fleeting. College football is a volatile business for head coaches, let alone for assistants.

Photo

Kirby Smart wants to be a head coach but embraces his role as Alabama’s defensive coordinator. “I want to be where I can win,” he said.Credit
Dave Martin/Associated Press

Three prominent programs interviewed him while he was at U.S.C. One offered him a head coaching job, but he met with Pete Carroll, then the Trojans’ head coach, who gave him a raise and “made it very attractive to stay,” Chow said. Another university rejected him, but the third offered him a job, and he wanted to take it.

Chow said he was told the job was his on a Thursday, and to go home and think about his salary and his assistant coaches. College officials would call him on Monday, and there would be a news conference announcing his hiring, Chow said he was told.

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He left U.S.C. in 2005 after four seasons. Carroll had wanted to tinker and experiment with the offense, and Chow had not. Chow also wanted to try his offense in the N.F.L. After stops as an assistant with the Tennessee Titans, with U.C.L.A. and with Utah, Chow decided he still wanted to try being a head coach.

In 2012, Hawaii hired him to regain its footing. He had grown up there, but in his first season, the Warriors went 3-9. Instead of focusing on one element of the game, Chow was burdened with details — making sure that his players went to class, that their travel was arranged. His offense averaged 21.2 points a game, 102nd in the nation.

“Now that I’ve had a little taste of this crazy head coaching business, I don’t know if it’s all that it’s cracked up to be,” Chow said.

Smart and Bob Diaco, Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator, may learn that soon enough — or find that they disagree. Sounding like Smart, Diaco said his job was the best in college football for an assistant.

“I love who I work for,” Diaco said last month. “I love where I work. I don’t want to change who I work for. And I don’t want to change where I work.”

Diaco, who reportedly interviewed for head coaching jobs at Temple and Boston College, added, “At the same time, it’s an honor to be in the conversation.”

Although he lacks Smart’s championship pedigree, at least for now, Diaco has been widely credited for Notre Dame’s defensive renaissance. Diaco said he and Coach Brian Kelly, in their fifth season working together — including stops at Cincinnati and Central Michigan — had become like Batman and Robin.

“Obviously, he’s Batman,” Diaco said. But what if Robin wanted to be Batman?

Jones, the editor of the Alabama fan Web site, holds out hope that once Saban has won many more championships and retired as an Alabama legend, Smart could take over the program. Given his aspirations and how he complemented what Saban had built, Smart was asked if that would be his dream.

“I’m like Coach Saban,” Smart said. “I don’t get into hypotheticals.”

A version of this article appears in print on January 5, 2013, on Page D1 of the New York edition with the headline: In No Rush To Leave Saban’s Shadow. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe